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Service clubs team up for ‘Foodraiser’

About two weeks ago, a group of people dashed through a closed supermarket, putting groceries in carts as fast as they possibly could. No, they weren’t looting the place. In fact, they were doing a good deed that will help hungry people in the Fort Dodge area. The people filling those shopping carts were members of local organizations like Sertoma and Kiwanis. The event was the 2024 Service Clubs United Foodraiser. The site was the Fareway store at 1231 First Ave. S. When it was all over, thousands of dollars worth of groceries had been collected for the Fort Dodge Community ...

Span will be lasting tribute to those who defended America

When it debuted some 56 years ago, the span that carries First Avenue South over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks was named Veterans Bridge. It was an appropriate name, but it was just a name and as the decades passed a number of people forgot that the bridge was even called that. Now the bridge is truly a tribute to veterans, especially a World War II veteran who was the city’s mayor when it was built. And the transformation was driven by a relatively small group of veterans who brought an idea to city officials, and then enlisted the support of the public to raise all the ...

Fort Dodge company provides special set of wheels for local girl

A special bike is enabling a Fort Dodge girl to get out and ride just like her brothers and all the other kids in her neighborhood. Aubreigh Ballard’s new set of wheels looks different from the other bikes spotted around Fort Dodge. But she now gets to go out and about, something that wasn’t possible just a month ago. Ballard, who is 10, was born missing the middle piece of her brain. One of the consequences of that is that she can’t manage a traditional bicycle. But she has always wanted to get out and ride with all the other kids. A happy coincidence that seems like it came ...

Angels of Love bring holiday hope, happiness

As the holiday season begins, angel ornaments will start appearing everywhere. You’ll see them dangling from the branches of Christmas trees and standing on window ledges. Area residents now have an opportunity to add another angel to their collection of Christmas decorations and at the same time help pay for some needed items for UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center. More than two decades ago, the members of the Trinity Regional Medical Center Auxiliary came up with a neat idea. They decided to sell angel ornaments in the hospital’s gift shop and use the money ...

Group with compelling list of accomplishments is honored

Since it opened more than 50 years ago, Iowa Central Community College has had students who excel in the classrooms, labs and shops and also in the venues of athletic competition. It has also produced graduates who went on to distinguished careers in public service, business, health care and just about every other field of human endeavor. The school has a Hall of Fame to honor its outstanding students, faculty, staff members, and alumni. Each year, a select few are inducted. This year’s induction ceremony was held Nov.9. The inductees are: • Mark Campbell, an Iowa Central ...

Americans unite behind veterans

How fortuitous it is that while the attention of millions of Americans seems focused on controversy, we take time out to honor those about whom we are in complete agreement: veterans of military service. No matter how we view politics, we are united in revering the men and women who have served and do serve us in uniform. The Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Space Force are the solid wall behind which our freedoms rest. They serve us not as Democrats, Republicans, Independents or adherents to any particular political philosophy. They serve us simply as ...